From Halloween to the New Year, the holiday season escalates to a frenzied pace. The additional school functions, social activities, and sweet temptations can wreak havoc on healthy habits! It takes months to develop healthy habits, and they can all come crashing down in just a few short weeks. So, how do we protect our hard work and continue to focus on our health goals during the holiday season? The answer lies in planning and preparing for all four pillars of healthy habits related to exercise, nutrition, sleep strategies, and stress management.
The planning should begin as the trick-or-treat candies and inflatables hit the store shelves. Protecting the work done all year requires building on boundaries already established and strategies to navigate the challenges this stretch of the calendar creates. The formation of healthy habits requires personal boundaries in all four areas of health, and a commitment to your self-care routine. Self-sabotage occurs when the boundaries are not well-defined, and habits are not fully developed. This cycle leads to abandoning the process of prioritizing personal health. Strive to thrive and build on healthy boundaries with these top three priorities in each area.
Exercise Priorities
- Use your movement menu to keep on track during the busy holiday season. Planning is key to keeping your exercise goals moving forward, so start with these healthy movement strategies every day. Add incline push-ups and squats to your morning routine to begin your day with functional strengthening. This strategy takes away the guilt of skipping a few of your normal exercise classes due to the demands of your schedule. By starting a new morning habit of functional strengthening, you can continue to build in options during your workday keeping your evenings free for the extra demands of the holiday season.
- Prioritize one non-negotiable exercise activity. When you are in a routine, it is difficult to let go of that routine without risking it falling off at the first of the year. Planning and prioritization are key to keeping you motivated. If you take a lunchtime walk every day, make sure to keep up with that one activity. If you work out at the gym 2-3 times a week, planning to cut back just a bit allows extra time for the long holiday to-do list. When we plan to cut back, we know it is a temporary solution to the increased demand of the season, and a plan is also in place to ramp back up when the schedule allows.
- Knowing your non-negotiable exercise times allows you to plan for alternative activities. This strategy provides wiggle room to cut back on certain areas while accounting for the increased movement involvement in shopping, gift wrapping, baking, and spending time with family and friends. Alternative activities could be a scheduled fun run/walk, shopping trips scheduled with a friend, or even walking the neighborhood as a family to look at all the lights and decorations. The hustle and bustle of the holiday season involves increased movement. Being mindful of this helps take the pressure off.
Nutrition Priorities
- Healthy eating 80% of the time and allow the remaining 20% to enjoy all that the holidays have to offer. Keep in mind that you have 21 meals a week. Focusing on the areas you can plan to stay on track with your nutrition goals will again keep the guilt and regret at bay. Prioritize breakfast as your healthy meal of the day by prepping your grab-and-go egg bites, breakfast burritos, or crustless breakfast casserole. Knowing your scheduled events also allows you to plan for healthy crock pot meals to eat healthy on the go. Plan for the 80% and enjoy the 20% at parties and office events.
- There is a strategy to manage holiday meals. Eating around your plate makes a difference in satiety and metabolism. As you work your way through the potluck, make sure you balance your plate with proteins, vegetables, and starches. Next, start by eating your protein first, vegetables next, and finish with the starchy foods. This increases satiety and reduces the insulin response to your meal. Try this at potlucks and parties to minimize the response to your meal.
- You get to choose when and how you enjoy holiday treats. You can minimize the negative impact of added sweets by strategically placing them at the end of meals instead of trying and failing to avoid them. This strategy lowers the insulin spike associated with “naked carbs” and improves the body’s ability to process the sugars without storing them as fat. Don’t forget that alcohol is also added sugar and should be monitored in a similar fashion. Choose holiday cocktails with less sugary mixers, and plan to drink one glass of water for every cocktail. Don’t deprive but learn to thrive with appropriate strategies.
Sleep Strategy Priorities
- Protecting your healthy sleep habits should be at the top of your list. Sleep is the foundation of healthy body functions. As you plan for the holidays, make it a priority to protect your normal sleep schedule. The 80/20 rule also applies to sleep as you plan to protect your sleep schedule. Planning for 80% normal sleep will keep you refreshed and energized. Give yourself the freedom to pick and choose when to schedule those late-night holiday parties to maximize your sleep. You get to decide which nights work best for your overall health and well-being.
- Watch out for the added treats before bedtime. Sugar and alcohol are two primary culprits in interrupting your sleep cycles and robbing you of the benefits of your full 7–8-hour sleep cycle. Know your body’s response to these triggers, and plan to limit the impact on your sleep cycle through planning and perseverance. During weeknight parties, for example, choose a non-alcoholic sparking water with a garnish for a festive look without the negative impacts on sleep during the work week. Save your 20% for the weekend celebrations when sleeping later is an option.
- Outdoor light helps keep your circadian rhythm in check. Shorter days leave us feeling groggy and grouchy. By adding outdoor light to your day, you minimize the impact. Just 20-30 minutes of outdoor light helps improve your mood and maintain your quality of sleep. This is where you can habit-sack some outdoor time by adding a walk at lunch for stress management and movement goals to benefit all three areas.
Stress Management Priorities
- As you spend increased time with family and friends, remember your “reason for the season”. A mindful focus on why the celebrations occur helps to defuse challenging people in our lives. Preplanning an exit strategy and communicating that strategy with a trusted friend or family member reduces conflict. Control stressful situations by acknowledging your feelings, taking a pause, and allowing those feelings to guide your response.
- The holiday breaks add additional stress as we transition to the New Year. Finding a balance between work, kids home from school, and visiting relatives can be overwhelming. Schedule management is key to navigating your top 3 priorities each day. Planned activities for the break become manageable with the use of your daily, weekly, and monthly planner. This habit sets you up to successfully manage balance into 2024 and beyond.
- Establishing boundaries to time, energy, and financial goals during the holiday season will reduce the risk of added stress. Plan to make or create personal gifts which could be easier on the budget. Use your scheduling tools to protect your time, and habit stack your health habits in exercise, nutrition, and sleep to control your energy levels. Building on your established healthy habits helps reduce stress and leads to a joyful holiday experience.
Back to Life Physical Therapy and Coaching Services wishes you and yours a very blessed holiday season. If you would like more information on our programs to build healthy habits for the New Year, reach out for a free conversation. Our coaching programs are exclusively offered by medical professionals in Exercise Sciences, Nutrition, and Physical Therapy. We are here to help you achieve your goals to get Back to Life and live life more abundantly.